Derivation and Evaluation of Nighttime Zonal Wind in the Thermosphere Based on SYISR Observations

ZHANG Ning; YUE Xin’an; ZHOU Xu; CAI Yihui; WANG Junyi; WANG Yonghui; ZHU Yajun; DING Feng; NING Baiqi

doi:10.11728/cjss2026.05.2025-0199

Derivation and Evaluation of Nighttime Zonal Wind in the Thermosphere Based on SYISR Observations

doi: 10.11728/cjss2026.05.2025-0199 cstr: 32142.14.cjss.2025-0199

ZHANG Ning^1
,,
YUE Xin’an^{1, 3
, ,},
ZHOU Xu¹,
CAI Yihui¹,
WANG Junyi¹,
WANG Yonghui^{1, 3},
ZHU Yajun^{2, 3},
DING Feng^{1, 3},
NING Baiqi¹

1.
Key Laboratory of Planetary Science and Frontier Technology/Beijing National Observatory of Space Environment, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029
2.
State Key Laboratory of Space Weather and Solar Activity, National Space Science Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190
3.
College of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049

Funds: Supported by the B-type Strategic Priority Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDB0780000), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (42504162, 42425403, 42574219), and the Project of Stable Support for Youth Team in Basic Research Field, Chinese Academy of Sciences (YSBR-018)

More Information

Author Bio:
female, was born in Tangshan, Hebei Province, in May 1992. She is currently a Senior Engineer at the Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Her primary research interests include the detection techniques and data analysis of incoherent scatter radar (ISR) and the observation of ionospheric electric fields and neutral winds. E-mail: zhangn@mail.iggcas.ac.cn

Corresponding author: male, was born in Hubei Province in 1980. He is currently a Professor and Ph.D. Supervisor at the Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. His primary research interests include incoherent scatter radar (ISR) detection techniques, ionospheric physics, ionospheric numerical modeling and data assimilation, as well as related fundamental and applied fundamental research. E-mail: yuexinan@mail.iggcas.ac.cn

摘要

Abstract: In our previous studies, using experimental data from Sanya (18.3°N, 109.6°E) Incoherent Scatter Radar (SYISR), we have obtained the line-of-sight ion velocity in multiple directions, subsequently calculated three-dimensional vector velocity through least square fitting, and finally derived electric fields from 200 km to 500 km based on the ion momentum equation. In this study, we further derived nighttime zonal wind from 200 km to 500 km based on the F region dynamo theory. To verify the reliability, we first analyzed the variations and errors of the nighttime zonal wind at different time scales. Then, we used an empirical model (HWM) and a theoretical model (NCAR-TIEGCM) for comparative analysis. Model results and observation results had a relatively good consistency. The maximum nighttime zonal wind velocity from the SYISR (HWM, TIEGCM) is 115.6 m·s^–1 (144.3 m·s^–1, 92.1 m·s^–1) for the monthly average value. We further compared the nighttime zonal wind from the SYSISR with that from a co-located FPI. They showed a positive correlation with a coefficient of ～0.68 for the zonal wind values, demonstrating a strong consistency between the two independent observation techniques.
- Sanya Incoherent Scatter Radar (SYISR) /
- Zonal wind /
- Momentum equation /
- F region dynamo theory
注释:
Conflict of Interests:

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Figure 1. (a) Beam diagram and LOS velocity for the SYISR experiment used in this study. (b)～(l) Daily universal time‐height variations of LOS velocity for 11 beams experiments made on 4 November 2023

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Figure 2. Universal time and height variations in the vector ion velocity (the first and third rows) and corresponding error (the second and fourth rows) for geographic coordinates (the first and second rows) and geomagnetic coordinates (the third and fourth rows), respectively on 4 November 2023

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Figure 3. The calculated zonal winds and corresponding errors in geographic coordinates on 4 November 2023. Note that the colormap range is different between the velocity and its error

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Figure 5. Universal time and height variations in the monthly average of the zonal wind for the SYISR (a), HWM (b), and TIEGCM (c)

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Figure 4. Monthly mean and standard deviation of the zonal wind varying with height from 200 to 500 km for several selected universal times

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Figure 6. The variations in the zonal neutral winds of the SYISR (a), HWM (b) and TIEGCM (c) versus date and height from 11-20 November 2023

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Figure 7. Comparison of the zonal wind around 250 km altitude observed by FPI and SYISR at different times

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Figure 8. Comparison of the zonal wind around 250 km altitude between the FPI and SYISR measurements for three months. The black dashed line in the figure represents the diagonal line

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